Spring Break
War fatigue
Campus debates Iraq war after recent veto
Ryan Dostalek
Issue date: 5/10/07 Section: Campus News
More than four years since President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, and a day after the deadliest month in Iraq this year, the president vetoed legislation that would set a timetable for ending U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq. Last week's legislation and veto have fueled even more debate on the war.
College Republicans Chairman Tom Burton said he believes the main reason behind the public debate is the growing tiredness of the war.
"I think it is war fatigue," he said. "Most people are not used to the country at war for this long. They're tired of friends and family being gone."
Burton added that despite the nation's growing "war fatigue," Congress should let the president do his job as Commander-In-Chief.
With an average of 45 attacks in Baghdad alone each day, according to the Department of Defense, it is easy for some Americans to become frustrated with the war effort.
College Democrats President Dylan Jambrek said in an e-mail to The Spectator that he too believes the public is weary of the length of the conflict.
"Students, like all Americans, are concerned with when this war is going to end and when the troops are going to come home," he wrote.
The growing debate regarding continued hostilities in Iraq was fueled last week by Bush's veto of legislation that would allow emergency funding to aid in the war effort, as well as impose a troop withdrawal deadline.
The Emergency Supplementation Bill (HR 1591), sponsored by U.S. House Appropriations Committee Chair, Dave Obey, D-Wis., would have allocated an additional $124 billion to use mostly for the "war on terror." However, it also included a timetable that would force Bush to begin redeploying troops out of Iraq by March 1 of next year and the redeployment must be completed by August.
"I believe setting a deadline for withdrawal would demoralize the Iraqi people, would encourage killers across the broader Middle East and send a signal that America will not keep its commitments," Bush said in his May 1 address to the public following his veto of the bill. "Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure - and that would be irresponsible."
College Republicans Chairman Tom Burton said he believes the main reason behind the public debate is the growing tiredness of the war.
"I think it is war fatigue," he said. "Most people are not used to the country at war for this long. They're tired of friends and family being gone."
Burton added that despite the nation's growing "war fatigue," Congress should let the president do his job as Commander-In-Chief.
With an average of 45 attacks in Baghdad alone each day, according to the Department of Defense, it is easy for some Americans to become frustrated with the war effort.
College Democrats President Dylan Jambrek said in an e-mail to The Spectator that he too believes the public is weary of the length of the conflict.
"Students, like all Americans, are concerned with when this war is going to end and when the troops are going to come home," he wrote.
The growing debate regarding continued hostilities in Iraq was fueled last week by Bush's veto of legislation that would allow emergency funding to aid in the war effort, as well as impose a troop withdrawal deadline.
The Emergency Supplementation Bill (HR 1591), sponsored by U.S. House Appropriations Committee Chair, Dave Obey, D-Wis., would have allocated an additional $124 billion to use mostly for the "war on terror." However, it also included a timetable that would force Bush to begin redeploying troops out of Iraq by March 1 of next year and the redeployment must be completed by August.
"I believe setting a deadline for withdrawal would demoralize the Iraqi people, would encourage killers across the broader Middle East and send a signal that America will not keep its commitments," Bush said in his May 1 address to the public following his veto of the bill. "Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure - and that would be irresponsible."
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